The new mayor of London Sadiq Khan, is investigating his predecessor Boris Johnson’s conduct over the procurement process for London’s planned $250m garden bridge, designed by Thomas Heatherwick.

A spokesman for Khan said: “He is only in his first days in the role but he is looking in more detail at some of the issues raised about the procurement.”

The intervention could derail a project that has attracted considerable criticism.

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The proposed bridge has secured vast sums of public money despite being initially promoted as entirely private-funded. It has recently been hit by accusations that its designer was selected before the actual tender process began.

However, a spokesman for the new mayor said that overall Khan backed the project, conceived by the “Absolutely Fabulous” actress Joanna Lumley, a childhood friend of Johnson.

“The mayor supports construction of the garden bridge but expressed concerns during his election campaign about the way the procurement process was carried out,” the spokesman said.